


The Boy Who Wasn't

by Phoenixtcm



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adventure, Basically the plot of the Philosopher's stone, Gen, Harry Has a Twin, Harry is not the boy who lived, Hogwarts, I liked the troll, James and Lily are alive, Magic, Pansy and Draco are both redeemed, Quidditch, Slytherin!Harry, Smart!Harry, There's still a troll though, but like this Harry Potter what did you expect? No magic?, but with major changes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-09
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-04-08 12:12:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4304556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenixtcm/pseuds/Phoenixtcm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Everyone who knew Alex knew that he was the golden child. The wizarding world loved him because Alex was The Boy Who Lived, and Harry knew that being called that meant that Alex was special, more so than normal magical people, who were special on their own. So, since Alex was both special and a wizard, Harry thought, that meant that he was double special."<br/>In which Harry is a Slytherin, his twin Alex is the Chosen One, and Draco isn't as bad as everyone thinks he is.<br/>Based around the plot of the Philosopher's Stone</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Prologue

* * *

 

To a five year old Harry, being told that he had to protect his twin was confusing. It was confusing for no other reason other than it being so incredibly obvious that he didn't think it needed to be said. For Harry, protecting his brother was simply a fact of life, a thing that he did without really thinking about it or questioning it, in the same way as the sky was blue, grass was green, and Uncle Remy and Dad could not be left in the same room without something mysteriously exploding or combusting.

Harry had learnt his ABCs with very few hiccoughs to the delight of his tutor, a little under a year ago, and liked to spend time in the family library on the estate, reading the thinner books he could reach and carry. He'd stumbled upon, quite literally tripping over a stack of books and falling into, accounts of Voldemort's attack on his family in Godric's Hollow one chilly autumn evening when he was around four. A thin volume of _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ had fallen out from the lowest shelf of the tallest bookcase as he collided with it, the small thud muffled slightly by both the library's thick carpet and Harry's foot. After the throbbing pain radiating from his toes had subsided, he'd picked up the small hardcover book and then proceeded to devour it. On that day, the knowledge that an evil wizard wanted to harm his brother wasn't fully processed by Harry, partly because he was too young to fully realise what it meant, and partly because Alex had fallen from his toy broom and had broken his ankle that same evening.

Seeing Alex sobbing with pain and clutching his ankle was somehow more painful to Harry than anything else he had felt before. He'd wanted to somehow transfer Alex's injuries to himself, to take all of his twin's burdens as own because, even at that young age, he had just wanted to see Alex smile again. And then, Harry decided that he would protect his younger twin from anything and everything else that would threaten to hurt him, and he made a promise to Alex that same night, when both of their senses were dulled by the haze of sleep, to always stay by his brother and best friend's side and look after him, no matter what might happen. 

* * *

**A/N** : Ah yes, another Harry-is-not-the-boy-who-lived story. This fanfic originally was posted on fanfiction.net, but I decided to also create an AO3 account so I'll be posting it here as well. I'll be uploading the individual chapters here slowly, alright? If you want to read what I have of the fic so far, please click [here](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10447429/1/The-Boy-Who-Wasn-t). It's longer than the original Philosopher's Stone book now, which it was based on. 


	2. A New Acquaintance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The writing gets better, I promise. This was written about a year ago.

The charity ball was held in far too small of an area that contained far too many people to be comfortable. The air inside the ballroom was stifling and constricting, hotter than what a normal cooling charm could aid with, while the air outside in the gardens was a bit too humid to breathe and filled with copious amounts of insects that made an annoying droning voice in the summer evening. The two different types of air met and mingled where there were large open balconies spaced along the length of the room filled with people eager to meet others who were more important and affluent than they.

_Suck ups._

The food, served on elaborate but overdecorated self-replenishing plates on both sides of the room was mediocre at best and dismal at worst, almost to the point where it was as bad as Alex's cooking, though Harry had previously thought that nothing could be as bad as that. (The Potter family's house elves were known to be among the best in the wizarding world, so Harry assumed that it made sense for all foods outside to not taste as good when compared to the meals that they had at home.) There was an annoying buzz of conversation, not unlike the humming of the insects outside taking over the summer night. Harry could see and hear introductions, false joy at meeting higher-ups in The Ministry (when they just needed to use them to secure promotions or raises), and the sickening sweet acidic taste of overplayed flattery that hung in the air like cloying incense.

He was _bored_.

The order twin watched his brother animatedly chatting to a group of adoring ministry workers for a while, probably about quidditch teams and the World Cup last year, the first that the family had been to, from his exaggerated swinging arm movements and attempts to mimic what he assumed to be the Canadian and Scottish seekers as they chased the snitch around the field, Alex had been quite taken with them and hadn't stopped talking about them for weeks following the final match. After the fifth time Alex stretched his arms out in front of him and made a face which he probably intended to look dashing and cool but in reality made him look not dissimilar to a confused grindylow, Harry concluded that there was absolutely nothing at all remotely interesting to do in that overcrowded and obnoxiously loud area.

Shouldering the worn messenger bag that he liked carrying around, Harry silently slipped out of the absurdly coloured ballroom. (he usually _liked_ the colour green, but it was a nauseating vomit colour with specks of red and pink throughout. Looking at it while being choked by the hot, humid air was headache-inducing) Harry headed down a hall with flickering torches on either side of it to what he hoped would be the library, or at least a quiet area where he could sit in peace until it was time to leave. As he walked, the bag, heavy with books and knowledge, thudded against his thigh in a steady rhythm as his shoes made clacking sounds on the stone floor of the corridor. Harry hoped he was going the right way. The year before, the ministry had had another ostentatious event in the same old building, and he remembered finding the library somewhere around that area.

He walked for a few minutes and then followed a side corridor for a bit more, taking a few more turns along the way. Then, after a final right turn, Harry stopped when he realised that the torches on the sides of the continuing part of the corridor weren't lit. When he pivoted to walk back the way he had came from, he realised that he wasn't too sure of which direction that was, whether it was left, left, left, right, left or left, right, left, right, right. Perhaps, it would be neither, and he would be even more lost than he was now. Cursing his abysmal sense of direction, Harry looked down the corridor and concluded that the lack of light probably meant that he wasn't allowed to go that way. After peering down the hallway some more, Harry decided, allowed or not, it looked interesting enough to continue walking further along. If anything, he might find something interesting to occupy himself at the next year's party, provided he could find it next year. (He didn't count on it, honestly)

The thuds his bag made against his leg echoed along the corridor as the child rambled along. The lack of light made it hard to see where he was going, especially since his vision was fairly bad to begin with, but Harry was fairly sure he wouldn't stumble on the stones that paved the ancient-looking mansion's floor. Spying an intricately-carved door that was slightly ajar on his left, Harry stopped walking and pushed at it first with one hand, and then with two when he realised that the old wooden creation was far heavier than he had anticipated. He could feel beads of sweat starting to form on his hairline as he strained. His arms hurt a little. Finally, after several minutes of heaving and shoving, Harry resorted to leaning his back against it and using as much power as he could muster to push with his calves and feet, the door lurched open a bit more with a low groan, just enough for Harry and his bag to squeeze through.

There was an open window on the opposite wall of the mysterious room but it was missing curtains. The sunlight of the summer solstice provided more than enough illumination to make out the contents the new location. It was moderately sized, Harry noted, with an unlit fireplace that had a rusting poker strewn across its sooty hearth, and bare of furniture save for a couple of rickety-looking wooden chairs clustered in a half-circle away from the entrance. It was quiet, though, which was what really mattered. Sweet, beautiful, peace and quiet, bereft of the drones of both insects and humans alike, it was _perfect_.

Harry briefly wished his parents had taken him to Diagon Ally to get his wand prior to this party, so he could at least attempt to transfigure some furniture while he was waiting (the chairs looked liable to collapse under their own weight any second.) He had most of the spells from his mother's _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1_ memorised, and a few from the grade 2 textbook. It would have been more fun to actually _do_ the spell than read about it. Stupid underage magic laws.

Emerging from his thoughts, Harry noted that everything in the room looked relatively clean, save for a thin layer of dust over everything which indicated both that the room hadn't been used in a long time, as well as that the house didn't have any house elves at their service, or that they, like The Ministry's blundering employees who hosted parties similar to these on its behalf, had forgotten that this room existed. Harry made a face when he imagined what Missy, his favourite house elf at the Potter estate, would say if she saw the large amount of dust floating in the air being illuminated by the sunlight streaming in through the window. It was a pity, the room could be quite cozy if it was cleaned up properly, with a few more pieces of furniture.

Covering his hand with the sleeve of his robes, Harry brushed the dust off of two of the chairs. He gingerly settled down on the one closest to the window. There was a creaking sound, but it didn't break under his weight, so he scooted a bit further back, sitting in the middle and crossing his legs under him, and retrieved _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ from his bag. Harry placed the book on his lap and deposited the significantly lighter bag on the second chair he had cleaned. Finding his bookmark, he relaxed into the surprisingly comfortable chair and continued reading about where Merpeople lived.

* * *

"Oh!" a shocked voice exclaimed, startling Harry from his chapter on Erumpents and their feeding habits. He slipped his bookmark into the book again and closed it before looking up at the owner of the voice so at least he wouldn't lose his page if he was going to be kicked out for "unlawful trespassing" or whatever the adults called it.

A girl with short brown hair tied up in a high ponytail was standing in front of his seat, one hand resting on her waist. She didn't look cross, just surprised, and Harry briefly entertained the thought that she, perhaps, was an auror in disguise come to arrest him before dismissing it. Nobody, not even the idiotic Ministry, would send aurors on missions to incapacitate children who were simply reading.

"Hullo" he said simply, trying to look as innocent as possible. It was a look that he often used on Missy to beg hot cocoa in winters, and it generally worked.

"Hi" she said, "How are you finding this gathering?"

 _So she's a pureblood, and a member of the older families then._ Harry deduced quickly, _she's observing the older tradition of asking about the satisfaction of others before inquiring into other, more pressing, matters. A prestigious family probably, one that cares enough about their reputation to teach their children to observe the same traditions even around those around their age, even in informal circumstances. So, a pureblood family with a child. Hmm. Not a Malfoy, not with that hair. I know for a fact that Notts only have one child, a son, as do Zabinis. I know Daphene and Astoria, which eliminates the Greengrass family So, probably a Parkinson then. Their daughter's name was something flowery, if he remembered properly. Violet? No. Rose? Don't think so... Pansy? Pansy! That was it!_

Feeling satisfied with his conclusion, Harry replied, "I'm finding it well, though a slight bit tedious, thank you. Yourself?" _There_ , he thought, _I've replied the proper way as well._

She gave a brief, satisfied, smile, "The very same. I'm Pansy Parkinson" she said, before extending her hand in offer of a handshake. _So I was correct. Good._

Harry took it with a smile of his own, "Harold Potter, call me Harry."

The conversation paused while they shook hands, then Pansy continued, "I had no idea that anyone else knew about this place, actually. You shocked me a bit, I'm sorry if I startled you."

"No, it wasn't your fault. I don't think most people assume that there's a person reading in every room they walk into," Harry replied jokingly, "especially if they thought that nobody else knew about it. Are you hiding from the atrocious wallpaper in the main room as well?" He was rather proud of being able to use the word "atrocious"; he'd only learnt it the day before and had been looking for an opportunity since.

She laughed, "It is horrid, isn't it? It's supposed to be the " _latest thing_ " among the higher ups in The Ministry." her voice became a shrill falsetto when mimicking the adults, with a dramatic shudder for emphasis, "My mother was threatening to paint the dining room in it, though Merlin knows how we'd manage to eat there afterwards."

Harry grinned with her. She seemed nice, and she seemed to dislike the same things as he did, which meant that she was pretty okay in his book. "Are you going to Hogwarts this year? You seem old enough." he asked. Hopefully she was, they could laugh at the awful tastes of others together.

She nodded, "Yes! My parents are taking me to buy my supplies in a few days." She paused, "I think I'll be in Slytherin, most of my family were in Slytherin. My mum says I show a lot of Slytherin qualities."

"I'm going as well," Harry responded, "though I have no idea which house I'll be in. My family has a lot of Gryffindors, but I don't think I'll be one, I'm not nearly impulsive enough."

She snickered, "Those Gryffindors are far too foolhardy. Better be in Slytherin, you'll live longer too!"

Harry took his bag off the moderately un-dusted chair and put it onto his lap. He motioned Pansy to sit there with a small movement of his hand, and they sat like that until the sun had set and the moon had risen into the air. He talked a bit about the magical creatures in his book and Pansy listened, sometimes adding small things she knew about them that had been passed along in the family through bedtime stories. When the stars came out and twinkled brightly, Pansy, with all the enthusiasm of a 10 year old, pulled Harry to the window and showed him the constellations that she had learnt.

"It's the Big Dipper, Harry. How do you almost make it up to your eleventh birthday without knowing what the Big Dipper looks like!" Pansy exclaimed.

"They all look like shimmering balls of light to me!" Harry protested weakly, "Where was it again?"

"Under Draco, the dragon. I showed that constellation to you only about ten minutes ago, don't tell me you forgot that too." she rolled her eyes, smiling. "It's made out of seven stars, and it looks sort of like a giant, stellar, soup ladle."

By the time their parents had come to retrieve them, with the aid of some child-locating charms and a nifty spell to push open the heavy door, Harry and Pansy found that they quite liked each other's company. The families walked out together, navigating through the mansion using a navigation spall that James had cast. It was left, left, right, right, right, **left** , and that irked Harry. The entire time, Alex was going on about how cool it was that Harry found an almost-secret room inside the old mansion and about other interesting people at the gathering that he had talked to. Pansy's mother fawned over "the little saviour" but Pansy sent Harry a sympathetic look while walking next to him.

At the entrance of the mansion, the two families that had been walking and conversing together parted to go their separate ways. Harry was surprised with a hug from his new friend and the promise of the loan of an astrology book. He decided to send Pansy a copy of _Humanoid Creatures and Their Origins_ the next time the family went to Diagon Alley and they promised to write to each other once they had purchased their owls.

Even though it was a Ministry event, which normally automatically made it terrible, Harry thought that this was one gathering that he wouldn't mind going to again.

Not that he would, mind you. Newfound friend or not, it was still a Ministry event, they were bound to mess up the next one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm (not) sorry that Harry was a mini-Sherlock at the beginning of the chapter; Sherlock's one of my favourite characters from literature.  
> Also, this is technically chapter 1. The prologue isn't an official chapter, only an introduction. I have no idea how keep the prologue but still designate this as chapter 1. Please help? I'm new here.


	3. Birthday

There was an annoying, piercing light. It hurt his eyes and Harry scrunched up his nose, burrowing deeper under his duvet. "M'k t stop." he mumbled, blindly sticking out one arm and feeling around for his pillow which he promptly shoved on top of his head, still under the mound of blankets. Harry dimly registered a sound of curtains being pulled back and moaned in pain when the lights seemed to get brighter, even through the blanket shield that he had constructed.

There was a voice in his room. It was a voice that didn't belong there. "Ree! It's time to get up!", it sang in an obnoxiously cheery tone. Harry groaned again. _No. Oh Merlin no._

"Go 'way, Lex. T's too early for this. We 'greed I don't wake 'fore noon, 'member?" Harry grumbled, pulling the blankets tighter around himself, only to have his heavenly cocoon of warmth snatched away from him abruptly.

"But it's our _birthday_!" Alex continued in his irritatingly chirpy tone, not caring that his _**older**_ **twin** was currently turning into the human equivalent of an icicle on his bed, "You promised we'd go to Diagon Alley to pick up our school supplies today!"

 _It's too early for this. I didn't get enough sleep for this._ Harry rolled over and laid face down on the mattress. He'd stayed up quite late last night in the library, since he'd found an interesting charms book and had lost track of time. Now, he regretted it. "But it's not even noon yet!" he complained, closing his eyes again and trying in vain to reach out for the quickly vanishing smoke tendrils of the dream world.

"But you promised!" Alex sang in his far-too-joyful voice that pierced through Harry's sleepy haze like the agonising glare of themorning sun. The younger twin bustled around the room, opening the curtains further and allowing more of the wretched light in.

Harry sighed loudly as he realised that he wouldn't get back to sleep that morning, not with Alex in his room. The calming fog of sleep had completely dissipated and he was awake now, albeit not willingly. Sitting up, he lifted a hand to right a lock of hair that was poking him in the cheek and put as much venom into a glare as he could. "Alex, I hate you."

Alex laughed, "t's not very affective, with your bedhead and all." he leaned over the bed and ruffled Harry's hair, further messing it up, "Love ya too, brother!"

The elder twin shuffled over to the side of the bed and sat there with his legs dangling towards the ground. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he looked up and inquired, "What're you doing, Lex?"

"Finding you something acceptable to wear, of course." the youngest child replied, looking up from where he was rifling through Harry's wardrobe. "We can't let you dress yourself, not after the disasters of last year."

"I'm _eleven_." Harry complained. _And that means I'm too old to have other people dress me, even if the other person's my twin brother._

"And still incapable of knowing good outfits from horrid ones." _Humph_

The older twin eyed Alex warily but didn't interrupt his brother. A few minutes later, a muggle outfit consisting of a striped t-shirt, jeans, and hooded jacket was laid out onto the bed. It was the exact same as what Alex was wearing, but Harry's top was striped light green instead of Alex's maroon. He raised an eyebrow at his brother's choices.

"Yeah, it was on purpose" Alex grinned, picking up on the unsaid question.

They looked alike enough, but were really extremely different. The younger twin by 34 minutes, Alex loved company and social interactions, and could speak for hours on any topic that interested him. He played quidditch, seeker, and was naturally more muscular than his older brother, taking after their father physically rather than their mother. Aside from his temper and extreme sense of morals, from Lily, Alex resembled a smaller version of James, glasses and all.

The older twin, on the other hand had inherited both Lily's love for academics and her intelligence, according to Mr Fizzbeatle, the twins' tutor. Like Alex, Harry resembled James, but was slender like his mother and had Lily's almond eyes. He was the quieter child, preferring to sit in the silence of the library or the shadow of the weeping willows outside on the Potter estate with a book on his lap rather than play games of Quidditch with his father, Alex, and Uncle Remy.

Still, at a glance, they looked almost the same, their eyes hidden behind glasses and bodies obscured by the folds of their clothing, which meant that they often were mistaken for each other as children. They used to wear the same outfits, or switch clothing halfway through the day and laugh when people got their names wrong. However, they hadn't done that for a long time, not since Alex started gaining muscle and Harry became paler as a result of time spent reading in the Potter Family Library. Though, it was nice to do things for old time's sake, Harry supposed, so he shooed Alex out of his room and shrugged on the outfit without complaint, tying his jacket around his hips.

Toeing his slippers on, Harry shuffled to his en suite bathroom. There, the elder twin brushed his teeth and created a foam beard, giggling the whole time, modelled after a wizard named Albus Dumbledore whose picture he'd gotten on a chocolate frog card. After washing away the toothpaste, he tried in vain to tame his bedhead but was unsuccessful, like most days.

Giving up on the impossible task, Harry walked downstairs to the dining room where Missy was laying out the breakfast, his and Alex's favourite from the looks of it. James and Lily, evidently having just been woken up by Alex, were both still in their pyjamas and were sitting at their regular spots at the table already eating. Harry swiped a glass of pumpkin juice and sat down with a small stack of pancakes which he drizzled a bit of golden syrup onto. Alex, on the other hand, was given an expertly toasted peanut butter sandwich as well as another glass of pumpkin juice.

"Where's Flopsy?" Harry inquired, picking up his fork.

Flopsy was an old cat, a year younger than the Potter twins. They'd gotten her a bit after the brothers had had their first birthday. Coincidentally, her own birthday was on the same day as the twins', and they always celebrated by giving her extra love and attention. Harry had made her a toy mouse a week ago and was looking forward to giving it to her.

Lily glanced around the room. "I haven't seen her since last night. Though, I think she's probably dozing in the library, seeing as she seems to prefer the chairs there lately."

Harry nodded. That was probably partially his fault. He liked petting her as he read, and the overweight cat had taken to staying in that room most of the time, following him around the library as he searched for interesting books.

"So, what do you boys plan on doing in Diagon Alley today?" James asked, swallowing a bite of bacon.

" **EVERYTHING**!" replied Alex enthusiastically.

"I want to visit Flourish and Blotts; Pansy told me they have a lot of spellbooks." spoke Harry coolly. Alex, sitting beside him, had managed to get peanut butter on his nose, and Harry was trying his best to not laugh at his oblivious expression, which would draw his twin's attention to it and mean that Alex would wipe it off, depriving him of his current entertainment. To his dismay, Lily reached across the table with her napkin and rubbed at it. Alex tried to jerk away but failed.

"Mum! Stop it!" he grumbled.

Lily, having been satisfied that Alex didn't have any more foodstuffs on his face, had sat back in her seat. Alex's nose was pink. Harry chuckled and was promptly elbowed by his twin for doing so, but it just made him laugh harder. His laugh was contagious, and soon the entire family was chortling together.

They stopped when Alex looked up from his pumpkin juice and exclaimed "Look! The window!" Outside, two small dark shapes stood out from the blue of the rest of the cloudless sky. As the family watched, they became larger and larger until Harry recognised them to be owls. As the approached, he could see that they were each carrying something tied to their leg.

"It looks like your acceptance letters have arrived." Lily remarked happily, standing up and opening the dining room window to allow them in.

"Now we can finally have some peace and quiet in the house, since both of you are going." James joked. Alex laughed and Lily leaned over to muss up his hair, though it didn't make much of a difference.

Harry and Alex had stood up to go receive their owls. Harry, having been closer, checked the letter tied to the first owl's leg.

"This one has yours." he said to Alex with an inclination of his head.

Moving to the other owl, Harry gently untied the letter and placed it on the worktop the owls were standing on, stroking his owl's head and chin with the back of his index finger. It tried to looked proud and regal at first, but it soon gave up and closed its eyes, relaxing into Harry's touch. He thought it was adorable. Alex, meanwhile, had tugged his letter off of his owl, earning himself a sharp reprimanding nip in the process for not having the patience to pull apart the knot.

Harry motioned to the owls to follow him, and led them to the study, where their own family owl, Mercury, resided. He refilled Mercury's water and food, and gave the Hogwarts owls some owl treats; they deserved them, after all. The owls drank some water and each gave a small bow to Harry in thanks. Not knowing what to do, Harry petted each of them on the head and opened the window to allow them to leave when they felt like it.

Returning to the dining room, He retrieved the letter with his name written on the front from the worktop. "Harold James Potter", it proclaimed in elegant, flowing script. Unfolding it, his eyes darted across the page as he read:

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. H. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

There was a second sheet behind that with a list of items that he needed to bring and Harry sat down with that, reading between bites of pancake and sips of pumpkin juice.

The rest of breakfast passed rather uneventfully, with a few "pass the syrup, please" and "where did my bloody fork g– oh."s

Dabbing at his mouth with his napkin, Harry set down his cutlery was abruptly yanked up by an already finished Alex who dragged him away from the table.

"It's time to open our presents!" Alex proclaimed with his seemingly never ending enthusiasm.

James and Lily shared a smile at Alex's antics and followed their children to the living room. There, two stacks of presents laid with two enchanted banners proclaiming the recipients, one small and one large; the larger one came roughly up to Harry's waist.

Alex's pile was bigger than Harry's, but that was normal; many relatives of the family only knew of Alex Potter, The Boy Who Survived The Killing Curse, and not of Harry Potter, The Boy Who Didn't Do Anything Spectacular. The Minister of Magic, trying to get into the Potter Family's good graces, often sent Alex magnificent gifts, only occasionally remembering to include Harry. Privately, the elder twin thought that the presents that he _had_ received were probably sent by the The Minister's secretary; The Minister himself probably didn't know he existed. Although he had thought he was used to it, a painful twinge went through Harry when he looked at the two uneven piles of gifts. His vision went slightly blurry and he swallowed hard around a lump in his throat, turning away from the two piles of presents. James and Lily, cooing over Alex, who was already tearing into his presents, wrapping paper and ribbons flying, didn't notice.

Taking a deep breath, Harry traipsed towards his pile and sat down, looking over at Alex. He'd already uncovered several boxes of Honeyduke's sweets, some scattered muggle gift vouchers (from their mother's side), and a modest-sized pile of books that Harry knew Alex wouldn't actually read. They'd go to the family library and the older child would probably end up devouring them. It was a pity though. At a glance, Harry could tell that they were mostly fairly pricy and moderately rare.

Carefully picking up a slim, flat present from his pile ("to Harry, from The Minister, Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Order of Merlin, First Class" it proclaimed in flowery golden script. So, this was one of the years where Fudge had a competent secretary, Harry assumed), said child used his nail to carefully pick away the tape that was used to seal it closed. Unlike Alex, he couldn't bring himself to simply rip at the beautiful wrapping paper that contained his gifts, so he continued like that, slowly and methodically stripping away the tape from his present until, at last, a book was revealed. It was _Break with a Banshee_ by Gilderoy Lockhart, and Harry grimaced.

He'd read one of the books that the incompetent fool had written before and honestly didn't think that it was worth the hour that he put into reading it, or even the paper that it was printed on. The author in question grinned at him with perfect, blinding teeth from the front of the novel and Harry found him to be completely and utterly insufferable. His hand twitched and he turned it so that the cover now faced the floor; he'd use it for transfiguration practice later, once he'd obtained his wand. Looking to the side, he saw that Alex had added a box each of of Chocolate Frogs, Liquorish wands, and Droobles Best Blowing Gum to the pile, as well as a few atrociously coloured sweaters from some distant aunts on their Dad's side.

Turning back to his own pile, Harry blinked hard and selected a large rectangular present. "from Lily", the label read. He tested its weight with one hand. Seeing as it was extremely heavy, he guessed it was a book and carefully opened it, taking great care not to rip the packaging or have the tape bring any pieces of the coloured wrapping paper. It was indeed a book. The cover proclaimed it to be about potions, which was a subject that Harry liked to read about. He'd possessed a children's potions set when he was younger, but he had used up all of the ingredients and had purposefully invented a potion that melted Alex's bed and part of the floor when they'd had an argument so James and Lily hadn't had bought him more. It just lay in the attic now. Harry was glad of potions classes so he could apply the knowledge that he'd accumulated over the years. The now eleven year old child placed _One Thousand Common Potions and Their Antidotes_ next to his first gift and stood up to kiss his mother on her cheek in unspoken thanks.

"It's a pleasure." Lily smiled, pleased. Harry smiled back and hesitated a little, half stepping forward, towards her, his arms raising slightly, before stopping and returning to where he was previously sitting. Lily's smile faltered a slight bit.

He picked up his next present ("from James Potter", it said in his father's messy chicken scratch.) It rattled when it shook it, and it did the same when he put it down, when he wasn't touching it. Harry was a bit nervous about opening this present. Like the last time, he carefully slid his nail along the pieces of tape that held it together and cautiously opened it.

It was a collapsable chess set, currently folded in half with the checked board facing out. The black and white board was shiny, and the wood boarder around it was stained a dark brown and polished until it shone. It was beautiful. However, that didn't account for the movement, and Harry, curious, flipped the latch that locked the board in the folded position. Upon opening the board, he realised what was making the sounds. It was a _magical_ chess board, and the pieces contained inside were moving about on their own. A queen stood up and waved at Harry while a black king ran circles around two white prawns and the white king. "Blimey..." Harry breathed, entranced at the sight.

"D'ya like it, Ree?" James asked, kneeling beside his son.

 _Of course I don't, I bloody love it!_ "It's absolutely brilliant!" Harry sincerely said, then, surprising himself, he leaned over and gave his father a hug.

"I noticed your muggle chess set was becoming a bit worn, and I saw Mopsy make off with your rook a few days ago, so I thought I'd get you a good-quality magical one. There's an instruction sheet in there somewhere that'll teach you some basic upkeep charms as well as a bag to hold all the pieces." James smiled, patting Harry's back. His oldest son disliked too much physical contact, and enthusiastic hugs from him were few and far between, so the father and son cherished the warm moment.

"Merlin's beard! Mum, Dad, woah! Look at this! Look at what The Minister of Magic got me!" Alex shouted, brandishing a brand new broomstick. The mood was changed, the atmosphere destroyed, and James gave an apologetic look to Harry as he joined his wife in cooing over Alex's new Comet 260. Harry's chest hurt.

Sighing, Harry returned to his pile. There was a fog obscuring his vision and he wiped an eye with his sleeve. Then, he slowly opened a few more presents from close relatives (Cauldron Cakes, Peppermint Toads, and Pumpkin Pasties, one of each, as well as a book simply titled _Ingredient Encyclopaedia_ , another called _A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions_ , and the last, _Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration_ ). Andromeda sent him a large, scruffily wrapped box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and Harry made a mental note to pen a thank you letter to her later.

Turning his head, Harry saw that Alex's food pile had doubled in size in addition to his book pile tripling. He'd acquired even more horrid looking sweaters and even a vase, though Harry had no idea why anyone would send an eleven year old a swirled glass flower holder. Still, his twin's pile was more than double Harry's, and the twingeing came back when he looked at it.

Harry had two more gifts now, and he selected the smaller one first. "Remus" it simply said on the front. It was fairly light and made muffled squeaking noises when he shook it. He hoped it wasn't what he thought it was as he gingerly slid the box out of its brightly coloured wrapping paper. Harry was surprised with what he held in his hands. It was a box; "Ice Mice" it said on the front with a smaller font promising "hear your teeth chatter and squeak!". There was a Honeydukes' logo on the side and, with an amused smile, Harry could tell that he would enjoy those. Making a note to write a thank you letter to Remus too, Harry picked up the last present.

It was odd, the last present, simply because all of the gifts from people who normally remembered his birthday had already been opened. Cautiously, Harry shook it and nothing happened. It didn't make any rattling sounds like the chess set or squeak like the ice mice, and there was no other sounds except for the crinkling of the wrapping paper in his hands. There was no tag either, so it made the purple-clad gift all the more mysterious. Curiosity piqued, Harry opened it like all the presents before that (carefully, without tearing the paper) and slid the gift gently onto the floor.

There was a gift tag wrapped with the gift and he picked that up first. There was a moving image on the front of a cake with flickering candles with the word "Blow!" written in large silver letters. Turning it around in his hand, the back was blank, Harry concluded that there was nothing else to it so he did what it commanded, gently letting out a soft stream of air, his lips pursed in an "o". The tag opened, becoming a card, and some multicoloured confetti flew out and landed in his hair. The shock of the confetti made Harry drop the card and he laughed, picking it up again and skimming over it. "Happy birthday, Harry!" the card read, "Mother told me that yours was today, she's an editor of _Witch Weekly_ and they ran a column for your twin a few years back, and I thought that I simply _had_ to send you a gift. Obviously, I chose it after our conversation a month ago. See you at Hogwarts! -Pansy." Re-reading his card, he noticed her choice of words. Pansy had said "I simply had to send _you_ a gift", not "you and Alex". This was one of the few times in Harry's life where he'd received a gift that wasn't given as a formality to "the other twin" because the actual gift was to go to The Boy Who Lived. There was a fuzzy feeling emanating from his chest that wasn't there before; it swept away the lingering twinges and made Harry feel warm and extremely happy. _I have a friend._

He smiled and picked up the actual present. It was a collapsable silver telescope with intricate carvings detailing its surface which was buffed to a brilliant shine. There was not a single scratch on it, and Harry spied an instruction manual with charms to keep said telescope that way. It looked like an antique, and Pansy must have spent quite a lot on it. Carefully, he placed it beside his other gifts, promising himself to write a letter thanking her as well.

Checking Alex's progress, Harry noted that he still had a few more to unwrap, so he picked up his largest gift and started reading through _One Thousand Common Potions and Their Antidotes_ while he waited.

* * *

A hand shook him from his passage cautioning the reader against obtaining their own basilisk venom. "C'mon, Ree, we need to get our presents back to our rooms. Diagon Alley awaits!" Alex's voice called in his ear. Their parents were already levitating Alex's pile upstairs– a child couldn't carry that much, it just wasn't feasible– so Harry stood and picked up his small pile of items, carrying them back to his bedroom where he placed them on his desk, for further investigating when he got home.

Hurrying downstairs, Harry toed on the pair of black sneakers that Alex pushed towards him without complaint. James and Lily were there already, and the family went to the study. Lily first penned off a reply to the school, and James knelt down before the fireplace and took out his wand. " _Incendio_ " he murmured, and a fire sprang up amongst the half-burnt logs– Missy or another house elf would put it out once they'd left. The family took turns each grabbing a pinch of floo powder from the box on the mantelpiece and throwing it into the fireplace, clearly speaking the words "Diagon Alley." With a whirl of green flames, they all vanished.


	4. Diagon Alley

Chapter 3

* * *

The family emerged at a general floo area. Alex tumbled out, getting soot all over his clothes, but Harry had managed to get the hang of it after the fifth or so time, so he only pitched forward a little before quickly righting himself, offering a helping hand to his twin on the ground. There were half a dozen fireplaces built into the half-open area. A stall on the side had a sign proclaiming "One pinch floo powder: 3 sickles" and was managed by a bored-looking witch with a pen in her mouth, doing the Daily Prophet's crossword section. Several cleaning charms later, Lily deemed the family decent, they strolled out of the floo area and onto the main, cobbled, street.

Harry instantly spotted one of the stores he wanted to go to, Flourish and Blotts. There was a cauldron shop by it that looked interesting and, a little bit down the street, there was an ice cream shop with a sign above it that stated it was called "Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour". He hadn't been to Diagon Alley too many times, but he remembered going there last Yuletide and he was particularly fond of both their pancake and butterbeer flavoured ice creams. Walking a bit more, the family passed a herd of children about Harry's age, pressed against a window of Quality Quidditch Supplies. They were crooning about the newest racing broom, the Nimbus Two Thousand, which was supposed to be "the fastest ever" or something of that sort. Both Alex and James looked like they were seriously considoring joining them, but a sharp look from Lily made their awed expressions turn sheepish and slightly guilty. Harry giggled inwardly.

The family took a trip to Gringotts where James and Lily refilled their money pouches and Alex enjoyed the ride in the cart (Harry felt a little queasy, but it cleared up once they got outside.) There was a massive giant of a man inside, emptying out his pockets in search of something. He scattered a handful of moldy dog biscuits over the pristine polished countertop in front of him and Harry suppressed a laugh at the facial expression of the goblin behind it. On the way out, Harry memorised the inscription on the innermost silver door, liking the rhyme of the words. He repeated it to himself softly while the family walked along to their next destination.

"Harry, what're you mumbling?" Alex asked, walking beside him.

"The passage on the door of Gringotts. I'm memorising it." Harry replied.

"Blimey." Alex said, awed. It  _was_  pretty long. "C'mon, recite it!" he continued enthusiastically.

Harry smiled but obliged, taking a breath in and speaking in a soft but powerful voice. It was the voice that he'd perfected a year and a bit ago with the aid of a mirror and a muggle voice recorder and he was glad to finally use it.

" _Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._ "

Harry took another breath and continued; he'd run out of air.

" _So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._ "

He'd slowed down as he was nearing the end, a ritardando, and privately thought that it amplified the mood of the ominous-sounding passage. James and Lily clapped from either side of the twins and Alex looked awed.

"You memorised all of that just now?" The taller twin remarked, half asking and half commenting.

"Yup" Harry grinned. It felt good to be acknowledged.

The family headed down the wide cobble street with the sun merrily shining on their backs, a silent agreement that they'd go to Ollivanders to wands the twins their wands first. Wands, after all, were more important to the wizard than books, robes, cauldrons, quills, or pets. They passed a shop called Eeylops Owl Emporium, another store that Harry needed to visit before leaving for Hogwarts. The green-eyed twin had been considering a barn owl or maybe a masked owl, but he'd make the final choice when he got there. Harry remembered that shop from a couple of years ago when the Potter family had made a unanimous decision to purchase a new bird after their old and forgetful screech owl lost the fight with time. They'd returned with a terrifyingly large Great Grey that turned out to be extremely friendly and mischievous- Mercury used to swoop into the dining room and make off with slices of bacon at breakfast.

Smiling at the memory, Harry realised that he was a bit behind his family and hurried a few steps to catch up, the messenger bag that he always carried with him thumping against his leg. A few more minutes of walking found them in front of a narrow and shabby looking shop. It had a sign over the door, and peeling gold letters displayed the words "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C." A lonely-looking wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty shop display window.

Upon opening the door, a bell rang somewhere inside the dark shop. It was very quiet, disconcertingly so, and the air shimmered with a strange and secret magic that made the hairs on Harry's head head tingle. There were shelves upon shelves of boxes piled as high as the ceiling and Harry felt that it was rather like a library in that way, albeit a very dusty and unkept one. A very spindly chair was in the corner of the shop and Alex sat himself on it; Harry personally didn't trust it, and he opened his mouth to caution Alex against sitting there.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice from behind them. James and Lily jumped. Harry jerked and Alex did too. The chair gave out and the younger twin was left sitting on what used to be its seat, on the floor of the dusty old shop. Sighing, Harry rolled his eyes but extended an arm and helped his twin up before turning around and searching for the source of the voice.

It was an old man with eyes so pale that they seemed luminescent like moons in the dark of the shop. His penetrating and unsettling gaze reminded Harry of Mercury back at home.

James chuckled, "20 years later and you still manage to bring out the same reaction in me."

Lily shook her head with a smile, "I think I did the same thing when I came here the first time to purchase my wand. You haven't changed much." she remarked to Mr Ollivander.

The old man nodded and moved closer to the twins. He was about a foot away from Harry now and the elder twin felt a bit uncomfortable with how close the other was. "I thought I'd be seeing you both soon, Harry and Alex Potter."

Not knowing what to do, Harry merely nodded and he saw Alex doing the same. Those silvery owl eyes concentrated on him and Harry stood a bit straighter and defiantly stared back. For a few seconds, nobody moved and it seemed that the world ceased its breathing. Then, the old man blinked and moved back; Harry felt strangely like he'd passed some sort of test.

"You have your mother's eyes," Mr Ollivander suddenly remarked to the shorter brother and, turning to the redhead in question, he continued. "Ten and a quarter inches, wasn't it? Willow, swishy, good for charms. It seems like you were only here yesterday, buying your first wand."

Lily nodded politely, "I still have it. It's a marvellous creation."

"And James!" the shop owner said enthusiastically, seeming to only have just noticed Harry's father, "You favoured the mahogany, correct? Eleven inches. Pliable. Quite powerful, actually. Good for transfiguration."

James, copying Lily, nodded as well.

Mr Ollivander turned back to the twins. "Well, I say your father favored it– it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course." He moved towards Alex and Harry watched wide-eyed as he touched the lightning scar on his twin's forehead with a pale, bony finger. "I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he continued softly, almost in a whisper, "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands... well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do..." he shook his head, as if shaking out those thoughts from his mind, and looked back at the taller child, taking a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

Alex proffered his right arm and Mr Ollivander started measuring him shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. Harry could tell that Alex was having trouble standing so still and he gave his twin a thumbs up in encouragement. Alex grinned back. As he measured, the shop owner explained, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons." Leaving the tape measure, which had started measuring Alex on its own, the old man disappeared among the shelves of wands. Harry could still hear him talking, the sound travelling very well in the dusty little shop. "No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, one will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

There was a clatter to Harry's right; Mr Ollivander had returned, his arms piled high with stacks of thin rectangular boxes. They teetered dangerously and Harry was half afraid that they would fall.

"That will do," the old man said with a nod, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Now then. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave."

Alex had barely touched the wand before the shopkeeper snatched it out of his hand.

"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try–"

The same thing occurred again; Alex had barely raised his arm before the wand was switched with another.

This continued for quite a while; Mr Ollivander muttering and grabbing more boxes from the shelves. Occasionally, there would be tiny hints of  _something_  coming out from the wand that Alex tried, illuminating the excited face of the shop owner in the darkness of the dusty store.

"No no no no." the man muttered, snatching up another box from the pile he had bought initially. Strangely enough, he didn't seem frustrated as the pile of tried wands grew higher and higher. Instead, he seemed happier, as if he was aging backwards and had regained the enthusiasm of childhood that time had stripped away from adults.

"Hawthorn and unicorn hair. 10 inches and reasonably springy; go on and–" Alex had scarcely moved his hand before it was snatched away, just like the others before that.

"A tricky customer, huh?" Mr Ollivander exclaimed gleefully, "Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere– I wonder, now– yes, why not– unusual combination– holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." he draw one box out from the bottom of the pile and handed it to the younger twin.

When Alex took the wand, Harry sensed that something was different about this one. Although some wands before that produced tiny flickers of light, Harry could literally feel the waves of content happiness radiating from... the  _wand_? This was odd. While he couldn't feel any magical intent coming from Alex, the wand in his hand seemed to be...  _purring_?

Then, Alex raised the wand above his head, brought it down through the air, and a stream of sparks shot from the the end of it like a firework, throwing spots of light onto the four walls of the tiny shop. James and Lily whooped and clapped; Harry grinned and joined them, happy for both the mysterious purring wand and his brother. The aged shopkeeper cried out "Bravo! Good! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious... "

He put Alex's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious... curious.."

Harry's interest was piqued, and he inquired, "I'm sorry, Mr Ollivander, sir, but could you explain what it is that's so curious?"

The shop owner turned around and met Harry's curious gaze with his silvery eyes.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your twin's wand, gave another feather– just one other." the man blinked sadly, turning back to his task at hand, "It is very curious indeed that your sibling should be destined for this wand when its brother why, its brother gave yours that scar."

Harry could hear his parents' simultaneous intakes of breath and Alex's gulp. The owl-eyed man turned back to Alex and continued in a voice just above a whisper, "Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter... After all, He- Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things– terrible, yes, but great."

Handing Alex his wand, Mr Ollivander turned around to face Harry. "And now you, Harry Potter. I wonder which wand will choose you as its master... After your twin was chosen by that– yes..." the man muttered, picking up the measuring tape again. He measured Harry exactly like he measured Alex and started darting around the store again, pulling out even more boxes.

The tape measure was measuring between his eyes and Harry closed them to avoid being accidentally being poked there. When he blinked open his eyes again, the pale-eyed shopkeeper was standing in front of him once more with another pile of precariously balanced boxes.

"Vine and dragon heartstring. 12 and a quarter inches. Reasonably springy. Just like before. Go on now."

Like his twin before him, Harry couldn't seem to connect with any of the wands that he tried. They all felt cold in his hands, some more so than others, and the magic inside them seemed... dissatisfied when he waved them. He wasn't sure if that was normal or not, so Harry kept quiet about it.

After his pile of tried wands grew higher and higher, surpassing even Alex's, the older brother asked "Since some of the wands Alex tried produced small sparks, couldn't I just try those?"

Mr Ollivander shook his head from, behind a half-empty shelf. "You were right to assume that your magical core is similar to your twin's because of your blood connection. However, relatives hardly ever have similar wands because of additional factors. Unless..." He stopped and thought about it for a bit, "Unless two people are the exact same in every possible aspect, their chosen wands will continue to be different. People who are extremely alike will have similar magical cores, yes; if your brother had resonated partially with another wand, a bit more than just tiny sparks, I would have you try that one. Though... I wonder..." the owls eyed shopkeeper stopped again from somewhere in the back of the store. "Well, why not, really. Why, we've had one curious thing happen today; why not two?"

With that, the man bustled towards the front of the shop with alarming speed and snatched the wand from the display. Harry blinked and suddenly Mr Ollivander was in front of him again.

"Try this one." he said softly, holding the wand out in front of him.

Harry reached his hand out towards it. Before he touched it, he could already feel the power within the wand responding to his own. There were pulsing waves of warmth radiating from it. When he grasped it in his hand, he could feel the difference between this one and those countless others that he'd tried before. It almost  _hummed_  in Harry's hand and the feeling... it was so beautiful that Harry had no words for it. He could only really describe it as being like... like  _coming home._

Harry extended his arm forward and flicked it up with a sharp movement from his wrist. Time seemed to slow and the tip of the wand exploded with a shower of silver and gold sparks that lit up the walls of the shop. Mr Ollivander let out a shout of happiness. Harry could feel the waves of warmth travelling along the wand and it seemed to pulse with it. The sparks were like the confetti streaming out from his card that morning, but seemingly endless.

They continued to stream forth, and Harry wasn't sure he consciously knew how to stop it. Then, his wrist made an instinctive motion, as if on its own. The wand in his hand followed, making a whole, unbroken circle in the dusty air of the shop.

The light show slowed, then stopped but Harry could still feel the exhilarating humming from the wand that he knew to be  _his_. His family, shocked to silence by the suddenness of it all, started clapping, the sounds echoing through the little store. Alex's eyes were wide and Harry threw him an uncertain smile.

Mr Ollivander was beaming, and the expression looked out of place coupled with his pale owl-like eyes. Fixing those eyes on Harry, he spoke in a soft but noticeably happy voice, "14 inches, reasonably pliable– though I advise you not to try bending it– made of yew, with thestral tail hair as its core... A difficult material to obtain, harder enough to use well... One of my ancestors made that wand– we actually stopped using thestral hair as a result of this, because no wizard has ever been chosen by it and it ended up in the store window as a result– That is, before you walked into my shop... Indeed," he turned, addressing James, "Mr Potter, after witnessing the two wands choose their counterparts today, I daresay that we can expect great things from this family." spinning around, the shop owner faced Harry again. "Treat it well, Harry Potter... That wand is a powerful one and you must strive to be too, to be able to wield it."

They paid 16 gallons for their wands and Mr Ollivander bowed when they left the dark, dusty shop for the brightness of the day. Harry carefully placed his wand into his bag, next to  _You & Your Owl_. Casting a quick  _tempus_ , the parents realised that it was nearing noon, and that meant that it was almost time to have lunch.

"We have enough time for three small stores or one large one, I reckon." Lily guessed, "Do you want to split up and buy supplies separately or all go to the same place?"

"Let's split up." James said with a gleam in his eyes, "I'll take Alex and go buy some miscellaneous items, you could take Harry to buy the books." Harry guessed they'd go to the quidditch store, despite what he'd said. Lily seemed to know it too, but a few hours surrounded by books seemed to be a bit too much to resist for her.

"Alright." she agreed, "We'll meet up at the Leaky in two hours, alright? Don't be late."

Both Alex and James nodded eagerly and raced off down the street. Lily sighed and turned to Harry. "I have three children."

Harry laughed. Together, they walked to Flourish and Blotts. The manager greeted them and apologised for the nonexistent mess- they had closed briefly about a month back due to an infestation of bookworms. Harry thought that she had a soft spot on them, since they regularly bought ridiculously large amounts of books and probably contributed significantly to the shop's revenue, but didn't comment on it.

An hour and a half later, Harry emerged from the back with several stacks of books. There were the standard books for first year students, two of each for both Harry and Alex, and Harry had put together a small pile of few books that he deemed interesting enough to read. Among them were arithmancy and transfiguration textbooks, magical creature encyclopaedias, guides on ingredient pairing for creating potions, and a stack of spellbooks– Harry had recently entered a phase where he wanted to learn anything and everything about duelling and spellwork, and had read all the books in the Potter Library that were of his level and in English. The eldest twin figured it would take him at least a month to get through all the books he'd just chosen, considering that it was summer and he had nothing else to do; Harry was also extremely excited to try out his new wand.

There was a small selection of miscellaneous items near the front of the store, and the dark-haired boy found a black and silver leather wand holster there. There was a silver clip on the back with built-in charms to attach it pretty much anywhere without it falling off, and Harry decided to add it to the pile of things that were to be bought. He didn't want to lose his newly-acquired wand because of it falling out of his pocket.

After paying for their purchases and shrinking them for easier carrying, Lily and Harry met up with James and Alex (both carrying large bags with  _Quality Quidditch Supplies_  written on them in fancy script) in front of the Leaky. As they entered, Tom, the barman, enthusiastically greeted James with a "Nice ta see ya, Potter!"

The father made hurried shushing motions but to no avail. The bar had gone silent, and everyone within it was looking at the twins. Suddenly, there was an almost simultaneous scraping of chairs, and the twins were suddenly surrounded by everyone in the pub at that time.

"Well, which one is it?" someone from the back yelled

Harry sighed resignedly. "I'm Harry Potter and my twin is A–" elbowed out of the way by an overexcited man with a top hat before he'd managed to finish his sentence, Harry glared at said man from his position on the floor.

"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle." Harry heard, and wished he could legally cast some minor jinxes so he could retaliate for the bruise that he'd no doubt gotten on his ribs. Gingerly getting up from where he'd been knocked to the floor (thankfully, his bag had landed on top of him, so his wand remained unharmed,) Harry heard a few more overenthusiastic people speaking to Alex.

"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."

There was a pale, twitchy man with a large turban wrapped around his head. He made his way towards Alex very nervously and introduced himself as Professor Quirrell. "A-Alex P-P-Potter," stammered the professor, grasping his twin's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p- pleased I am to meet you. I t-teach d-defence at H-Hogwarts, n-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously and Harry's eyes narrowed. "You're g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He was elbowed out of the way too as more voices joined the throng of people. Harry sent him a sardonic smile that he missed.

"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."  _I'm a Potter as well_

"Always wanted to shake your hand– I'm all of a flutter."  _Swell_.

There was a fairly large crowd of people around Alex now and the eleven year old was completely obscured by the mass around him shaking his hands. Harry slowly made his way to a corner table that his parents had found. There was something in his eye, a piece of dust probably, and Harry rubbed at it furiously with his jacket sleeve until both his eyes were watering. Lily and James, reading the menu, didn't look up and notice. Harry was glad. Making sure that he'd gotten all the fluid from his cheeks, Harry sat down and pulled a book from the bag at random, nudging it towards his parents to have it returned to its normal size. After a few minutes of sitting, they ordered, each picking their own meal. Harry ordered for Alex– they usually had the same meal at the Leaky.

The older twin read  _Curses and Counter-Curses_  until the food arrived. By then, the taller, brown-eyed twin had managed to excuse himself from the hoard of people and had joined them at the table. Lily nudged his plate towards Alex and the family finished their meals in silence, ignoring the whispers permeating the air.

After eating, the family paid and stood to leave, with some last people interrupting them to ask for one more handshake from Alex. His twin looked a out of his depth and Harry lightly squeezed his shoulder, earning him a thankful smile.

Finally exiting the Leaky, the Potters went into a nameless stationary shop and emerged with new quills. Harry had found some silvery black anti-blotting eagle feather ones that he liked and had bought a bottle each of colour-changing and glow in the dark ink. Knowing that his twin was atrocious at spelling, Harry nudged a bottle of self-correcting ink towards Alex, who was holding a handful of pheasant feather quills. His twin took it gratefully.

The next stop was at the cauldron shop. The sign on top of the door had been painted over, so Harry had no idea of its name. Alex nearly fell into a large silver cauldron after tripping over a little tiny one and had to be helped up by Lily. The twins chose some brass scales from a selection in the front, and browsed the stacks of cauldrons searching for the correct ones.

Although he requested, asked, begged, and eventually whined, James and Lily didn't let Harry purchase a copper cauldron, saying that the school said to buy pewter. The pewter cauldron was the worst, Harry knew. The lead in the object would get leached out over time, contaminating the potion that was being brewed, and the alloy itself had a laughably low melting point, which meant that only certain  _boring_  types of potions could be created with it. Harry vowed to cause an "accident" with his one just before Christmas, so he could go home and purchase an actual decent cauldron as soon as he could.

James discovered the sets of potions phials, all the way in the back of the store. Due to Alex's tendency to break things, the family all agreed to buy him a glass set that wouldn't be too expensive to replace. Harry found a clear crystal set with ornate silver stoppers that he liked and was allowed to have it as an early Yuletide gift.

* * *

Now, they just had two more stores to go and it was almost four o' clock. Since Eeylops closed earlier than Madame Malkin's, they made their way to the dark little shop. Outside, there were cages with all sorts of owls of different colours and shapes in them. Inside, the place was filled with flapping, rustling sounds and bright eyes. Alex had found his owl almost immediately; it was a reddish brown screech owl that excitedly looked at everything with large pale yellow eyes, and Alex had discovered it when the bird had literally flown down from the ceiling and sat on his head. Currently, the younger twin was in Magical Menagerie, the pet shop next door, with both James and Lily, having purchased his chosen pet already. Harry, on the other hand, had his arms full with a barn owl and a scops owl and was trying to decide between them.

Then, there was a commotion in a corner of the shop with a lot of screeching and hooting. Setting the two owls back into their respective cages, Harry cautiously walked towards the source of the sounds to investigate. It was a fight, it seemed, between an extremely white snowy owl and several tawny ones. The snowy owl seemed to have been ganged up on. It was cornered after a few seconds and it screeched and flapped its wings uselessly but the other owls were too strong. Harry, upon seeing the unfairness of it all, immediately darted forward, shooing the other birds away before closely approaching the white owl.

"Hey there, little fella." Harry said in his most placating tone of voice as he kneeled down, reaching his hand forwards and hoping that the owl wouldn't bite him too hard. It was a fairly small owl, for a snowy. Harry had read that they were usually 20 or so inches but the owl in front of him looked to only be about 15. It was bleeding slightly from one wing and looked to be in pain– The older twin had guessed that the shopkeeper would know a few spells to patch it up so he'd decided to bring it to her. But, first he had to get it to trust him.

"C'mere" Harry murmured, moving forwards a little bit. The owl, evidently still a little skittish, hopped back a few steps and eyed him warily. Sighing, Harry sat back onto the stone floor while he waited for the owl to become more accustomed to him. It was quite a beautiful owl, really, with white feathers that barely had any hints of black on its tips and luminous yellow eyes that regarded Harry with a saddening amount of fear. A few moments passed with the boy sitting there, barely moving save for the rise and fall of his chest. Then, the snowy owl moved a bit closer, and then a bit more. small step by small step, the bird inched forward until it stood directly in front of Harry, almost on his lap. Slowly, as slowly as he could as he didn't want to frighten the bird, Harry lifted his arm and offered it to the owl in front of him, holding his breath. The snowy owl regarded it with a critical eye and Harry felt like he was being assessed for the second time that day. Then, it seemed to sigh before hopping delicately onto Harry's sleeve.

Harry carefully made his way to the front of the store, oddly aware of the weight of the bird on his arm. The owner was behind the worktop in front of the shop and Harry slowly made his way over, being mindful not to jostle the owl, which might further injure it.

"I've brought you a snowy owl." he remarked to the owner, "It was being bullied by a few tawny owls and I think one of them pecked her pretty hard."

"Oh, that's one of the runt snowies. 'E was the smallest egg in 'er clutch and just never really grew out of it. Though I'm surprised 'e took ta you that quick. 'E normally doesn't like people." the owner replied, sighing. "Think this is the third time I've had to patch 'er up this week."

Taking the owl from him, the owner healed its injuries with a few sweeps of her wand.

"There," she said, "good as new. Just put 'er on the other side of the shop, will ya? As far away from those tawnies as possible; they're usually the culprits." she shook her head, riotous curls bouncing, and handed the owl back to Harry.

"How old is she?" the child asked, surprising himself. He took the owl and watched her as she settled herself back onto his arm again.

"A lil' over two years now, I reckon. e's really mild-tempered and a sweet lil' thing, but the other guys keep pickin' on 'er. 'Ts just since e's so small, really." The shop owner replied, absently polishing the snowy owl's cage.

Harry thought about it for a minute.

"I'll take her."

* * *

Exiting Eeylops, Harry blinked at the glare of the afternoon sun. His eyes had become adjusted to the darkness of the store and the sunlight now seemed almost comparable to the blinding light of that morning, when Alex had woken him up.

Carrying a detailed silver cage with his little snowy owl inside, fast asleep with her head tucked under her wing, the owl and the boy made their way to the next store, Magical Menagerie. A squashed-looking kitten hissed at him as he entered, retreating back to the shadows of the cages that were stacked up to the ceiling. Harry found Alex easily because of the distinctive Potter hair; he was looking at a couple of fire-breathing crustaceans.

"Ree!" Alex exclaimed, "Look at these crabs! Aren't they brilliant? D'ya think mum would let me get one?" Then, noticing Harry's new pet, "You sure found a pretty owl!"

Harry merely smiled and gave a half shrug, watching as the crabs set fire to the few remaining pieces of decoration in their glass aquarium. There was no way Lily would let them have pets that destructive  _around_ , let alone  _in_  the house and they both knew it. Still, it was nice to dream, so Harry didn't say anything otherwise to his twin and continued walking through the shop, being careful not to let his snowy owl's cage bump into anything.

A few cages down, a giant jewelled tortoise sunned itself on a smooth flat rock. It lifted its head lazily as Harry passed, giving him a small nod of acknowledgement. There was one cage that contained a lot of mice that were skipping, using their tails as rope, and quite a few more that had colourful balls of fluff that made sharp squeaking noises when Harry walked past it. They reminded him of the ice mice that Remus had sent him that morning and Harry looked happily at his new owl; he could ask her to deliver the thank you letters to the people who sent him presents now. He was no longer dependent on sharing Mercury with his parents. Harry's owl, as if sensing his thoughts, ruffled her wings a bit and went back to sleep.

_"Sssso bored."_

Harry cocked his head and listened; he was sure that he'd just heard someone speak.

_"I wisssssh I had another moussse."_

There it was again! Whatever was making the sound seemed quite near. He continued walking, waiting for the mysterious voice to continue speaking. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a bunch of colour-changing puffskeins stuffed into a comparably tiny cage. Figuring he might as well occupy himself while he waited, he knelt down and ran his finger over one through the coppery bars enclosing it.

"Hey there, little guy." Harry crooned. The puffskein made a loud humming noise and turned a content-looking mauve, making the boy chuckle.

_"Ssssilly human. Thosssse creaturesss cannot underssssstand."_

Harry's head turned quickly to the next cage, where a medium-sized black snake was residing.  _Did it?..._

 _"Were you sssspeaking to me?"_  Harry inquired, half afraid he was going crazy.

Suddenly, the snake reared back. " _You can ssspeak the sssserpent tongue?"_

Harry wasn't sure if he understood it properly, but he nodded anyway.  _We're having a conversation, right? And that would count as speaking. So_ _since they're a snake..._

He asked, instead,  _"What isss your name?_

 _"My previoussss massster named me Erissss, after the Greek goddessss of chaos."_  the snake had settled down into its previous position and looked extremely proud.

_"A beautiful name."_

The snake nodded, pleased.

_"What ssspecies of snake are you, Eriss?"_

Eris jabbed its tail at the sign stuck to the corner of its vivarium. Harry lightly skimmed it. It read:

Species: Black Mamba

Sex: Female

Age: 2 years

Length: 2.5 feet

Additional notes: Charmed to maintain size indefinitely.

10 Galleons

_"Sssso, you cannot grow anymore?"_

_"Yesss."_  the snake nodded,  _"My lassst owner liked ssssmaller thingssss. Ssshe placed a sssspell on me before ssshe left the world."_  she paused.  _"I sssstill sshed my sssskin though."_

_"Your lassst owner passsed away?"_

Eris nodded, her head bowed. She looked extremely saddened to be reminded of that and Harry instantly felt guilty for bringing it up.

 _"My name iss Harry Potter."_  he offered instead, _"I turned eleven on thissss day."_

 _"You're only a little one, then."_  Eris replied, sounding amused.

Harry felt a little miffed.  _"You are only two yearsss old, a full eight yearssss younger than I."_

Eris raised her head towards the ceiling and Harry had a feeling that he had just subjected him to the snake's equivalent of rolling her eyes.

_"I may be younger than you, little Harry, in earth yearssss, but I have the wisssdom of all the sssserpents that came before me at my disssposal. I am many timessss older than you."_

Harry sighed, smiling at Eris' defiant tone.  _"May I purchassse you and take you home with me?"_

The snake considered it for a while before nodding slowly and delicately. It made Harry feel like he'd just been bestowed a great honour. He carried her cage towards the front of the shop awkwardly, considering he still had his owl in his other hand, and dug some gold coins out of his money pouch that he retrieved from his messenger bag, paying for her and a glass vivarium for her to live in. The owner recommended a rock that was charmed to stay warm and also a water bowl, so Harry bought those too– He'd search up some charms to regulate heat and remove dirt from the vivarium when he got home. The storekeeper was kind enough to shrink all of his purchases so that Harry could easily carry them in his bag and Eris twined herself around his shoulders, stating that she'd rather do that than be put back into the container. It was rather comfortable, and she wasn't all that heavy, so Harry didn't complain.

When Harry found his family again and introduced them to Eris, Alex didn't freak out about Eris as much as Harry had thought he would, which was most definitely good. The twin's father merely stated that she was "brilliant", and didn't say anything against her after Harry mentioned that he could use her shed skin in potions. Lily was mostly concerned about her possibly biting someone. After Harry showed her how docile Eris was, with brilliant acting on said snake's part, she warily accepted her.

And that was how Harry found himself in front of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions with a snake around his shoulders, being greeted by the shop's namesake dressed in a pale purple colour.

"Hogwarts, dears?" she asked the twins when they walked in, not batting an eyelash at the black mamba that was dozing on Harry. "Got the lot here– another young man being fitted up just now, in fact. "

Behind her, Harry saw a pale, skinny boy with hair that was so blond that it was practically white standing in a footstool while another witch fussed over him. Madame Malkin stood Harry on a similar stool, after he first managed to coax Eris off him and onto the back of a chair nearby. The boy with the curious hair was on his left, and Alex was on his right, also getting fitted for his robes. The shop owner hummed as she slipped a robe over Harry's head and started to pin it to the correct length.

"Hello," said the boy, looking at Harry, "How're you finding it today?"  _So he's deliberately using the traditional greeting; probably a pureblood then, especially with that hair._

There was a decent distance between them, so Harry had to raise his voice a bit above normal to speak to him.

"It's a beautiful day. What about yourself?" he replied  _Correct reply: check._

"I agree. Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes." Harry replied simply.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," the boy with the odd-coloured hair continued. He had a bored, drawling voice with an aristocratic accent that Harry found intriguing. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."  _His voice and mannerisms point to him being from a longstanding pureblooded family, and that hair could only belong to the Malfoys. Hmm. The wife of that family was a Black, which means that he probably has an astronomy-related name... Oh! Pansy mentioned him when she was teaching me about the constellations. The dragon– Uh... Draco!_

Harry nodded, considering his statement. "Alex, my twin," he indicated with a motion of his head, "was saying the same thing this morning. He's a quidditch nut as well."

"Have you got your own broom?" the Malfoy went on.

"No, but Alex does."

"Do you play quidditch at all?"

Harry made an apologetic expression. "No, but Al–"

"If I wanted to know about Alex, I would have talked to him." Draco interrupted, shaking his head softly. "Now, tell me about  _yourself_ , and not your sibling. What house do you think you'll be in?"

Harry blinked. This was new. Most people only bothered to strike up conversation with him in order to become nearer to Alex. "I'm not quite sure. I read a lot, so my best guess at the moment is Ravenclaw. Most of my family were in Gryffindor, but I'm not as foolhardy as they are."

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they," Harry's conversation partner continued with a warm laugh, "but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been."

Inspired by what Draco had said before, Harry asked "But what house do  _you_  want to be in?"

Draco stopped, clearly having not anticipated the question. "I'm not sure, actually." he responded after a length of time. "But, imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't know. It might be a bit impolite of me to say this, but I think it's quite a feat to remain cheerful and welcoming all the time, especially to people who offend you and discriminate against you as a result of your house; it's probably a great deal more difficult than being cunning, brave, or smart."

The boy tilted his head, his expression pensive and a tad embarrassed to be called out by Harry. Then, he nodded. "No, it's not rude of you to say that; I suppose you could be right." his eyes looked around the room and alighted upon Eris, asleep on the back of a cushioned chair. "Is that your familiar?"

Harry looked over at Eris as well. "I'm not sure, actually. I only met her today."

Draco made a hum of acknowledgement.

"That's you done, my dear." Madame Malkin said fixing one last pin into place, and Harry delicately stepped down from the footstool.

"Well, I suppose I'll see you at King's Cross then?" the green-eyed child trailed off hopefully, rousing a sleepy Eris and slipping his messenger bag over his shoulder.

The boy nodded, still being pinned for his robes. "I trust we will." he assured, "I'm Draco Malfoy, and you are?"

Harry smiled. "I'm Harry, Harry Potter."

There was flicker of something Harry couldn't name visible in the other boy's eyes as Draco returned Harry's hesitant smile with a genuine, open one of his own. "See you at Hogwarts, Harry."

"See you, Draco."

The twins had gotten the rest of their uniforms at Madame Malkin's as well, and it was six thirty when the Potters made their way back to the flooing area with many people along the cobbled street of Diagon Alley doing double takes to stare at Eris, sleeping on Harry's shoulders. Harry wore a smug grin and walked with purposeful steps, his back straight and his posture proud. The Potters paid 12 sickles to the bored witch managing the stall for four pinches of floo powder and the family tumbled back home in a flurry of emerald flames.

* * *

 **A/N:**  Harry's finally met Draco! Whew, this chapter was insanely long and took ages to write (It's close to 7500 words, less than 1k under the story's total before this was uploaded.) Consider this my apology for not being able to upload for close to two weeks due to that camp that didn't allow me to sneak in my iPad. (Yeah, I write my fics on my iPad. Autocorrect's both a prat and a saviour.)

I was about to name Eris "Nyx", after the Greek goddess/personification of darkness, but then I realised that I couldn't get the nice sssss at the end of her name, even though it ends on the same sound, so I scrapped that idea. (I'm a sucker for Greek mythology, what can I say?)

_This is still old work- this chapter was written about a year or so ago- probably closer to two years ago now. You may have noticed that I'm re-uploading some chapters. Don't worry, all of the chapters will eventually be moved over from fanfiction.net. If you want to read everything I have of this fic, please click[here](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10447429/4/The-Boy-Who-Wasn-t) or just search me up on fanfiction.net- I have the same username_


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